Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mount structure for a fuel cell stack, which is used to install the fuel cell stack in a fuel cell vehicle. The fuel cell stack is formed by stacking a plurality of power generation cells for generating electrical energy by electrochemical reactions between a fuel gas and an oxygen-containing gas.
Description of the Related Art
For example, in a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell, an electrolyte membrane (polymer ion exchange membrane) is interposed between an anode and a cathode in order to form a membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The membrane electrode assembly is sandwiched between a pair of separators to thereby form a power generation cell (unit cell). When using the fuel cell, generally, a predetermined number of power generation cells are stacked together in order to form a fuel cell stack, e.g., which is mounted in a fuel cell vehicle (fuel cell electric vehicle, etc.).
Further, in an in-vehicle fuel cell stack, it is necessary to suitably protect the fuel cells against external loads such as vibrations or impacts that occur during traveling of the vehicle. For example, a fuel cell installation structure is known, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-317406. In particular, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-317406 relates to an installation structure in which a fuel cell stack, which comprises a plurality of stacked power generation cells, is supported at an installation position using a cushioning apparatus. The cushioning apparatus has a conversion function for converting the direction of an external force, in a direction that intersects with a stacking direction of the power generation cells of the fuel cell stack, into the stacking direction of the power generation cells.
Thus, according to this structure, when an external force is applied to the fuel cell stack in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the power generation cells, the direction of the external force is converted into the stacking direction of the power generation cells, in which durability against the external force is relatively high. According to the disclosure, with such a structure, an improvement in vibration resistance and impact resistance can be achieved.